


The Thing With The Feathers

by Asphodelia



Series: The Thing With The Feathers [1]
Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: M/M, takes place right after the scene in 2.11
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-12-04
Updated: 2015-12-04
Packaged: 2018-05-04 23:15:54
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5352020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Asphodelia/pseuds/Asphodelia
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The experience they have just shared has Oswald feeling very close to Jim.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Thing With The Feathers

Watching Jim execute Theo Galavan was satisfying in a way that was not unlike beating the man had been, not unlike what he imagined it would have been like to pull the trigger himself. It was strange because Oswald had thought Galavan dying by a hand besides his own would have been maddening. His life was supposed to be Oswald’s to take. Watching Jim take that shot – frost in his blue eyes – was undeniably beautiful, though. 

Jim was like a statue in that moment: gorgeous, unchanging, features carved into marble. But then, Jim had always been a statue to Oswald. His heart, which was quick to beat for anybody in need and might just care about the city as much as he himself did, had long since turned to stone where Oswald was concerned. He had benefited from the man’s goodness once and then never again. Jim was unmoved by Oswald’s offered friendship, by his life being endangered, and more recently by his grief for his mother. Perhaps part of the satisfaction in watching Jim commit murder was watching him take a step towards becoming the man he already was towards Oswald. 

That was a bitter satisfaction, though, and while it was certainly there there were also more pleasant sensations. Some of them were simply to do with the fact that Galavan was finally dead. On the subject of Jim, however: he was proud of him. On one hand he did not actually want to see the white knight slip off his pedestal (he just hated being the only person Jim didn’t care about), but on the other hand he did not believe Jim needed to be quite as ‘good’ as he tried to be in order to do good in Gotham. It was actually detrimental to his goals. There was a time when Oswald had wanted to be his guide in the dark, to help him find a path that worked both for him and for the city, but that time had passed. There was not to be friendship between them. 

Still, if killing Galavan was a step towards Jim finding that path himself, Oswald couldn’t help but be proud of him. He had never been any of the things he wanted to be to Jim, but he did like to think he had had an influence. The significance of their interactions could not all be in his head. 

Oswald took a break from thinking about Galavan’s killer to focus on the corpse itself. Desecrating it with his umbrella was delightful (there should be no dignity in death for the man who had locked his mother up like an animal) and put him in a positive enough mood that, when he turned back to where Jim was still standing by the car, he found himself smiling. He was glad they got to share this. That the two of them had gone on this excursion together was far beyond anything Oswald had dreamed of.

It seemed like where Jim was concerned Oswald was constantly lowering his expectations and ending up disappointed anyways. He had never even aimed for what he truly wanted from Jim, which was everything. He had never dared think the man would consider sharing his life or his bed. Instead, he thought they might be friends. At least when Jim thought about the big name criminals of Gotham he might think of Oswald more kindly, perhaps be glad for his success even as he disapproved of his field. These hopes had been crushed at every turn, seemingly especially when Oswald thought he had already banished them. 

Today’s blow would definitely be the final one. Dr. Thompkins was having Jim’s baby. Oswald had told himself he had never had romantic hope for Jim, but he had apparently been wrong seeing as that news had killed it. Jim was traditional. He would marry the doctor before the child was born. His hopes for friendship had been struck down anew as well because surely Jim would not take the same risks he had so far, including any association with Oswald, once he had offspring to consider. That Jim was going to have a family with somebody else was just about the last thing Oswald wanted to hear, especially so soon after having lost his own family. 

After they parted ways tonight Oswald and Jim would be nothing noteworthy to each other and that hurt. It did not erase the wonder of the moment, though. Right now they were _accomplices_ , partners in crime. Normally Oswald would tell himself that Jim’s being out of reach accounted for a large chunk of his attractiveness, that maybe he wouldn't even want him half as badly if he thought he could have him, but he realized as he approached the stony man that that was nowhere near the truth. Perhaps it was that Jim had sunk down to Oswald’s level for the moment, perhaps it was the intimacy of this shared experience, but either way the cold-blooded killer currently leaning against his car seemed bizarrely attainable and that thought was intoxicating. 

So instead of getting in the vehicle like Jim was probably waiting for him to do Oswald found himself standing directly in front of the other man, invading his personal space. Jim did not react at all outwardly but remained a statue. Any other day (not that he would go has far as he already had any other day) Oswald might have laughed nervously and said something about friendship, but the knowledge that anything real actually happening was impossible because of the baby freed Oswald up to take a bigger risk. It was not as if they had a future he could mess up. 

He kissed him.

Oswald had not intended to let himself get sentimental about kissing Jim since he knew it could not lead anywhere. It was supposed to be a stolen taste of something he couldn’t really have, nothing else. He did not have much experience in this area anyways so a quick press of their lips together was all he could think of to do. He still somehow found himself moving his mouth over the other’s gently, tentatively, and feeling his own heart hammer away in his chest as if it was still holding on to impossible ideas. 

For once, he was not disappointed.

Jim remained still for a long moment, neither responding nor pushing Oswald away. Then the man just sort of sighed into Oswald, tension leaving every muscle in his body at once as his hands found his lower back and pulled him in tight.

Jim turned them a second later, pushing Oswald roughly against the side of the car as he kissed him in a thorough, urgent, way Oswald struggled to keep up with. Not that he minded. He had lost the ability to be bothered by anything and merely clutched at the front of Jim’s shirt while his more experienced partner took charge of their activities. The entire weight of Jim’s body was pressing Oswald into the car door as his hands traveled lower and Jim began to grind into him. 

Unused to the sensation Oswald made a startled noise that caused Jim to stop kissing him. He worried he had snapped Jim out of whatever mood it was that had taken him, but Jim didn’t pull away. He just looked into Oswald’s eyes, breathing heavily. There was no ice in Jim’s gaze then. Everything about the way he was looking at him made Oswald feel special and wanted. 

“Sorry, we don’t have to…” Jim spoke softly, assuring Oswald they did not have to do anything he was not ready for as if Oswald were his prom date. He might have rolled his eyes if he weren’t starved for sweetness from Jim. Despite Oswald’s earlier certainties this did feel like the start of something and Oswald was in heaven. 

“No no, however you were going to end that sentence, I assure you that I want to.” Oswald whispered, giggling awkwardly which in turn caused Jim to smile (an actual smile!) and shake his head in amusement…

Which caused Jim to catch sight of Galavan’s cadaver, which apparently killed the mood for him given the way he was suddenly stumbling back away from Oswald as if it burned to touch him. 

“Damnit, this is –“ Jim started as he retreated. Then he looked back at Oswald and cut himself off. His face, which had taken on a disgusted look that was physically painful to Oswald, became apologetic for a moment and he took a step back towards him. Oswald must look as wretched as he felt.

Jim reached out for him as if to comfort him, but fisted the hand before it made contact and forced it back to his side. For a moment it appeared he had things he wanted to say, but he remained silent. Jim became a moving statue once more and walked around the vehicle to get in. 

Oswald needed a moment to process the fact that he had been disappointed by Jim yet again. He had expected nothing when he kissed him, but then he had gotten his hopes up again and they had been doused. For now. Oswald realized that a part of him would always be waiting on Jim and, as much as he resented the loss of control, there was nothing he could do to stop himself hoping. 

Maybe that was alright, though, because maybe his hopes were not completely in vain. 

Jim wanted him, and had since before tonight. Unless he was actually kinky enough that the murder had turned him on, which was clearly not the case, then he must have been attracted to Oswald for quite a while to respond as he had. Jim was a good man and he would try to be everything he thought that meant he had to be. He would make his child his first priority, he might propose to the doctor, and he might even make promises about living more cautiously. But he would break those promises. 

Jim was never going to be the man who was home in time for dinner with his family. He was changing, but it was not in that direction. Maybe he would recoil back to the letter of the law for a while, but this was Gotham and that wouldn’t last. Their paths would continue to cross, and now Oswald would go into their interactions knowing he was not the only one affected by the presence of the other. Jim would not have that advantage on him anymore. 

This was not the end that Oswald had thought it was, or the beginning it had felt like for that beautiful moment. Things were just progressing, and he would step into the future with better information than he had previously had.

When Oswald got into the car he was grinning, and Jim shot him a sideways look.

“I suppose you’ll be wanting to get in contact with Dr. Thompkins as soon as possible. Don’t worry old friend, she doesn’t need to know about _any_ of this.”

He couldn’t help taking that shot, and he was sure he would make similar comments going forward. Jim was not allowed to forget. 

Now that Oswald knew he was in Jim’s head he was going to plant a flag.

**Author's Note:**

> This was spawned from the look on Oswald's face while Jim shot Galavan. Hope you guys like it~
> 
> The title is from the Emily Dickenson poem and refers to hope. Not penguins. 
> 
> ...Although that too.


End file.
